Water sports enthusiasts, such as surfers and those using body boards and wake boards, generally transport the boards to the edge of the water by hand. Boards are carried by grasping an edge of the board and maintaining the board between the body beneath the arm of the user. For smaller boards, this is not particularly difficult. However, boards, particularly surf boards, can have a length up to 11 feet, a width up to 25 inches and may weigh twenty pounds or more. Thus, carrying of the board in the manner described above a long distance, particularly over sandy or rough terrain, can be difficult and laborious. This is particularly true if the individual has a smaller physique as it may be difficult for the user to maintain the board in this position as the arm length of the individual may not be sufficient to allow the user to comfortably grab grasp the lower edge of the board.
There are several devices in the prior are for carrying boards, particularly surf boards. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,733,000 shows a combination beach chair and surf board carrier. The support has a strap that can be attached to the surf board to provide for the convenient transportation of the chair and surf board. Other devices utilize straps or slings in similar arrangement.
While these devices may provide the user some assistance when transporting an object such as a surf board, these devices are often themselves unwieldy, requiring the user to attach a strap or sling to the board.
In view of the foregoing, there exists a need for a simple and secure hand-held cradle that can be used in hand-carrying boards such as surf boards of any size.